life made her, more than any other animal, the target for hourly observation; and the sagacity of our forefathers wove from her wise and wicked ways some shrewd lessons for their own enlightenment. "A blate cat makes a proud mouse," and "A halfpenny cat may look at a king," are among the pithiest of Scotch proverbs. "The cat with a straw tail keeps away from the fire," is English. "Care killed a cat,"—originally "Care clammed a cat," comes from Herefordshire. "The cat sees through shut lids," and "Honest as the cat when the meat is out of reach," reflect more credit upon Pussy's acuteness than upon her rectitude. "No playing with a straw before an old cat," is John Heywood's contribution in 1562, and so is the well-known couplet,
"Fain would the cat fish eat,
But she is loth to wet her feet;"
while the still more familiar nursery rhyme,
"When the cat is away,
The mice may play;"
was written by Thomas Heywood in 1607. Even George Herbert did not disdain to borrow an illustration from this ever useful animal. "Send not the cat for lard," is his method of saying, Lead not your neighbour into temptation.
Mr. Harrison Weir has compiled a curious and valuable glossary of words and idioms which owe
